Quotes as plot bunnies ,,OLD STORY,,
by xLaramiex
Summary: Childish cheese, but rather fun as long as you don't take them too seriously.##Sad ones, funny ones, dark ones, fluffy ones, light ones...etc. Oneshots inspired by quotes.
1. Chapter 1

_Okay, I had suuuuch a great idea last night. I was out of inspiration and wanted to do some oneshots, so I've started writing them based on quotes or icons! Basically, I take the idea, and write a story around it. Some, I have interpreted several ways, or there are simply several sections, as in this one._

_I will tell you my inspiration at the end -smile-_

* * *

I sat with Cadvan in the garden, on the grass. I could hear a bird singing, people talking, music playing. I could feel the warm sun on my face and smell the fragrant bushes around me, which created a circular area of grass, and the sweet scent of somebody baking. I could see the rays of the sun sparkling on the dewy grass.

I could think of nothing but him.

"Well, Maerad, I must be going," he said at last. "I have much to do."

"Goodbye," I replied. _I miss you already,_ I finished in my head.

As he walked away, I blew a kiss after him.

* * *

"Well at least I'm not still in love with someone who died years ago!" I snapped.

I knew I'd gone too far, even as I said it.

His eyes flashed and his face crumpled.

_Oh, Cadvan I didn't mean to hurt you. I could never…_

As he walked away, I blew a kiss after his angry back.

* * *

Cadvan laughed loudly at my joke.

"You make me laugh, Maerad," he told me, his eyes sparkling.

"Cadvan!" I heard Hem call. My heart sank.

"I'll be back in a moment," Cadvan promised me.

As he walked away, I blew a kiss after him.

* * *

"Cadvan, I can hear something," I said quickly.

"So can I," he replied grimly. "I'm going to go and check it out - stay here and don't move, alright?"

I nodded.

As he walked away, I blew a kiss after him.

_Did you like? Review and tell me either way!_

_The quote was: He doesn't know it but when he turns around I blow a kiss to him._

_The next one doesn't go up until I have 7 reviews -grin- teehee_


	2. Chapter 2

He sat in front of me on his chair, smiling. His eyes were alight with happiness. I looked down at the table to see that he had taken my hand. They looked so right there, laying together, our fingers interlocked.

I looked back at his face, only to fall deep into his eyes. With his free hand, he touched my face gently, and leaned forwards to kiss me…

Maerad awoke with a start as Cadvan shook her arm.

"Maerad," he hissed. "Wake up!"

"Whassup?" she slurred sleepily.

"I think there are wers close by. Be on your guard."

Maerad gazed at his face as he sent out hearing, staring into the trees, and sighed.

His kiss, his love, had been a dream.

--

I watched my daughter walking to meet her love. In just a few minutes, they would be husband and wife. They loved each other so much. My little girl looked so beautiful in her wedding dress, her hair curling gently down her back. The crystals in the windows cast rainbows all around the room.

All our family was there, and all of Clavila's friends. My own husband was walking with my daughter to give her away.

But none of these people matter at this moment, not so much as Clavila. A step before she reaches her about-to-be husband, she turns to look directly at me and smiles.

Silvia awoke slowly to see her husband sat beside her, reading a book. But what were they doing here? They should be at the wedding! She sat up quickly before realising…The wedding was a dream. Her daughter had died a week ago.

She didn't realise she was crying until Malgorn wiped her tears away and held her close, letting her sob into his shoulder.

--

Quote: The hardest part of dreaming about someone you love is having to wake up.


	3. Chapter 3

_Heeere's another. Sad but sweet : )_

* * *

Maerad couldn't believe how much she had lost to Sharma and the Dark.

She had lost her father, in the sacking of Pellinor.

She had lost her brother twice - once in the sacking and once to Enkir's knife.

Her mother had faded away as a slave thanks to Enkir's cruelty.

Dernhil, who she might have loved, had been snatched away from her before she had a chance with him.

Silvia and Malgorn had fallen in the fight to get her into this room.

Millions of people had been slaughtered by the thing that was no longer a man in front of her.

Maerad's heart was cold and hard. She struck at Sharma, investing every last scrap of power she had into her knife. He burst into fragments before her, splattering her with his blood.

The room was empty now, save for her. It was quiet outside, too. There had beev so much death and destruction.

Before she could, in an agony of despair, plunge the knife into her own numb and broken heart, a hand caught her wrist. It was a hand she knew almost better than her own, and it made no move to stop her. He would not have stopped her, if that was what she truly wanted; but as she looked into Cadvan's eyes, Maerad found that it wasn't what she wanted any more.

He held her for a very long time as she wept onto his chest.

* * *

-sigh- poor Maerad.

The quote was from an icon, and it was "I would jump without you. The end."


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm almost doing a fanfic of a fanfic; this is based on EvaBourne's amazing version of the last battle. (You don't have to read it to understand this but you should read it anyway because it's amazing wwwDOTfanfictionDOTnet/s/4135822/1/Glass )_

* * *

Hem asked first. Just moments after I had defeated Sharma, I was staring around at the death I had caused, and Hem appeared at the door. He came towards me as fast as was possible, dodging bodies, and just stood dumbly in front of me for a moment.

"Are you alright?" he asked at last, in awe.

"Fine," I lied. He nodded, then pulled me into a tight embrace, which I returned.

We went outside together, and joined the rest of the survivors mounting horses which weren't necessarily theirs to ride home. Many people were being rounded up to bury the dead.

We met Malgorn on the ride back to Innail.

"How are you feeling?" he asked from atop his horse.

"Fine," I lied. He gave me a small smile, touched his hat to me, and rode on. I could feel Cadvan's eyes on me and ignored him.

The ride went by without incident, and before we knew it we had arrived in Innail. We went immediately to see Silvia, who kissed Malgorn and embraced Cadvan, Hem and myself. "Are you all alright?" she had asked worriedly.

"Fine," I lied, mustering up a fake smile.

She gave us wine and dinner, before we all went upstairs to go to bed. I had just finished brushing my hair when I heard a knock at my door.

"Come in," I said. Cadvan entered slowly. I put my brush down and forced a smile as he quietly approached me, until he was no more than a step away.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

"Fine," I lied. His eyes made the lie so much harder, so I avoided them and looked at the floor. I felt a finger under my chin, tilting my head up to look at him.

"Tell me the truth," he said gently. I blinked hard and a few tears escaped my eyes.

"Awful," I choked, and he held me safe in his arms as I wept.

* * *

_Aww :'( The quote was "Sometimes when I say 'oh, I'm fine,' I want someone to look me in the eye and say, 'tell the truth.'"_


	5. Chapter 5

The universe is a very large place.  
There are wars, there are discoveries, there are deaths and new lives every second.  
Somewhere, there's happiness, somewhere, a strange creature is murdering another, somewhere else, a person that doesn't look like a person is helping a fellow.  
But this is not the story of any of these. This story is about a star, and the love that star created.

* * *

Maerad lay quietly next to Cadvan. They were both in their own sleeping bags, camping outside. They had no need to travel any more, as they had defeated Sharma and now lived next door to each other in Lirigon, but they would often meet up to camp in one or the other's back garden - just for old time's sake. It was 5 years since the last battle, and Maerad was 21. Maerad and Cadvan had been working together for several years, and still met up regularly outside of work.  
And now the most important part. For 3 years, Maerad had been totally and utterly in love with Cadvan.  
As they lay, staring up at the stars, Maerad felt as though an energy were flowing between Cadvan and herself, and she could hardly breathe. Her heart almost stopped as she felt Cadvan's hand on her arm.  
"Look," he said softly, pointing. "That group of stars looks like Imi!"  
"No, its too dark for Imi," Maerad teased with a smile, feeling the loss of Cadvan's touch as he withdrew his hand. "It must be Darsor." Cadvan's deep laugh made her stomach twist as it always did, and she smiled at him. He didn't notice. He never did.  
Maybe she should tell him? So many times had she contemplated it, but she never could. She bit her lip nervously and slid her hand into his. He looked at her and smiled, making her heart constrict. She found herself smiling dumbly back, glad when he turned back to look at the stars because she couldn't get the stupid grin off her face. She stopped breathing entirely as he held their entwined hands to him and pointed upwards again.  
"Shooting star," he said.  
Maerad smiled. "Make a wish," she told him.  
"I don't need to," he replied.  
Maerad frowned at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" He let go her hand and turned over, propping himself up on his elbows and staring down at her.  
He smiled lightly. "You're already right next to me," he said quietly, before lying on his back again and taking hold of her hand. This time, instead of simply holding it, he held it to his chest with both hands.  
Emboldened by this, Maerad said the words she'd been practising for years.  
"Cadvan, I have a confession."

* * *

Yays! Fluff!! Review and tell me if you liked it! The quote..."'Shooting star! Make a wish!' 'I don't have to. You're here.'"


	6. Chapter 6

_Hmmm…These all seem to be from Maerad's POV. I'll have to write one from someone else's._

_I'm not quite sure where this would fit in the series; if it's an AU-wishful thinking-type thing, or a The Singing wishful thinking-type thing…_

* * *

Maerad gazed at Cadvan across the fire. The flames threw strange shadows across his face and behind him on the ground. He was wreathed in silence, deep in thought, and Maerad was loathe to destroy his peace. She watched the fire dancing in his eyes and stood up, walking around the fire and sitting down next to him. He made no sign of being aware of the movement, until Maerad looped her arm through his. He sighed, and Maerad thought it sounded a little frustrated, before he stood up and began packing his things.

Maerad stayed where she was, sadly staring into the fire.

"Why are you so afraid of being touched?" she asked, thoroughly hurt. The movement she had heard behind her ceased. There was a short silence, before light footsteps approached her. They stopped just behind her, and she did not turn around.

"I'm not afraid of being touched," Cadvan said. Maerad found herself unable to reply. Cadvan placed his hands gently on her shoulders and continued quietly, "I'm afraid of being let go."

Maerad turned to look up at him. "I won't let go," she replied.

Cadvan just sat back down next to her and took her hand. He looked up and gave her a small smile.

"I know," he said.

* * *

_Wow...This one was mega-short…Ah, well…The next is longer. A bit longer._

_The quote was simply "I'm not afraid of being touched. I'm afraid of being let go." I thought it applied to Cadvan._


	7. Chapter 7

Walking slowly down the silent streets, tears ran unchecked down Maerad's cheeks. Exactly what she had dreaded the most had come to pass. The volunteers, the people who had chosen to fight, she might one day have been able to forgive herself for that. But this…

Maerad knelt down next to the body she had been seeking. Averting her eyes from the arrow wound in her brother's throat, Maerad leant down and kissed his forehead, seeing tears fall onto it. She knelt with him for a long time, mourning the loss of this spark of life, so bright, before finally standing and turning to survey the thousands of bodies around her. How many of these had siblings? she wondered.

Sharma had forced the battle into this village. Carrying two had made Imi slow - Maerad had refused to leave her brother's body on the battlefield to become lost and anonymous. When Imi had been killed, she was forced to leave her brother and continue fighting on foot.

After wiping the blood away from a 5-inch long cut on her thigh, Maerad leant down and gently stroked her beautiful horse's neck. Silvia was still in Innail; whilst Malgorn had been one of the last to fall. The Hulls had fallen too, disintegrating into a pile of dusty bones.

Finally, Maerad saw movement. She hurried closer and saw it was an old man, not a Bard, at least 80.

"There are so few people left," the man told her, as she approached. His voice was frail, but Maerad could see evidence of past strength in his face. "I've seen less people than I can count on one hand. Are you looking for anybody?"

"Yes," Maerad replied. "You won't know who I mean." The man nodded, then knelt down to hold the hand of an old woman. Maerad thought it must be his wife.

Turning, Maerad walked on, through the almost deserted streets. No more that a dozen or so people could still be alive out of this whole town. At one point, Maerad stopped to comfort a middle-aged woman, and she bled to death in her arms.

But still she could not find Cadvan.

She walked until her feet were aching, before finally allowed herself a short rest. She sat down on the ground and allowed her tears to flow freely again, aching inside at all of this death. When her tears had stopped, she looked next to her to see a girl of no more than six lying on the ground next to her. Maerad covered her mouth in horror, before seeing that the girl was still clutching a small rag doll. How could anybody murder such a young child? she wondered. She was so innocent and small. Maerad gently pulled the doll out of the girl's hands and held it around the middle with one hand.

Once more she went to search for Cadvan. Before the battle, he had told her he loved her. She had kissed him in response, but before she could reply to his words they had had to split up. She hadn't even had the luxury of a reply.

Maerad froze. That man, lying next to the wall so still, that wasn't…that _couldn't_ be Cadvan. Could it? She crept forward, her eyes wide with fear, holding the doll from one arm in her hand.

She got close enough to the body to see that it wasn't Cadvan, and stopped. It was beginning to grow dark now. Maerad had been searching for hours, but still no sign. By nightfall, the few survivors had left to go to the next village, no more than half a day's walk away. Maerad refused to go, refused to give up. Maybe he was injured; unconscious and unable to reply to the many shouts made.

"If only I knew," Maerad whispered as the rain began. She huddled against a wall with her knees up, watching smoke curl into the sky from various buildings on fire. Had anyone been watching, they would have been unable to distinguish her tears from the unceasing rain drvingin down on her.

"I never got a chance to say," she began, her voice breaking, "I love you Cadvan."

Ardina's words echoed in her mind, sending her deeper into despair; "No power, not even love, can overcome the ban against return."

"I hope you don't _need_ to return," Maerad murmured. "By the Light, Cadvan…I hope you're still here." She clutched the child's doll to her chest and wept for all that she had lost, and for the agony of not knowing.

* * *

_Aww…:'( That was depressing. I will have to find something more cheerful to write next time._

_That quote was "My teddy bear is the only thing I can hold." Or, indeed, this is also similar, but I dodn't find it until after I'd written this: "Teddies don't hug back, but sometimes they're all you've got."_


	8. Chapter 8

Inspired by summat off of Friends.

Prelude to chapter 5.

"So what do you want to do in the next few years?" Cadvan asked idly. He and Maerad were lying on their backs, head-to-head, in the long grass in the horses' paddock. They had waited while the nine horses had smelled them and decided they were neither a threat nor an interest, then lain down quietly as they wandered away. It was a few years since Maerad and Cadvan had defeated Sharma, but their friendship had stayed strong and Maerad trusted Cadvan more than she had trusted anyone before in her whole life. They lived on the same street in Lirigon, and once Maerad finished her studies next year she was going to work at the same Healing House as Cadvan.

"I don't really know," Maerad said in answer to Cadvan's question. "I want…I want to become a really good Healer. I want to travel a little, without being chased. I'd like to help people with the White Sickness, but I don't think I'll ever be that good." She told her feelings freely, having no shyness about anything in front of Cadvan. "And I want to receive the perfect kiss without being scared." They lay in silence for a few minutes. "What about you? What do you want in the next few years?"

Cadvan paused. "Peace," he said simply. Maerad smiled slightly. Trust Cadvan to say something like that. It was one of the reasons she lo- liked him. As a friend. Nothing more.

Maerad heard Silvia calling her name and sat up. "I have to go," she told Cadvan.

"I'll see you later," Cadvan replied. Maerad turned and walked across the field to the gate. Before she reached it, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. She barely had time to register the mischievous spark in Cadvan's eyes before he put a finger under her chin, tilted her head back slightly and kissed her. She felt his tongue on her lips before he pulled away. She gasped quietly, without meaning to, as he did so.

"That's one you can cross off your list," he said, an almighty grin upon his face, one which Maerad thought he must have used when he was small to get out of trouble with his parents. And only someone with a heart of stone could not forgive that cute smile…

Maerad physically shook the thoughts out of her head and smiled back. "Yes, I suppose," she replied, and walked away with a wave.

Would she ever have the courage to tell him how much more that kiss meant to her than to him?


	9. Chapter 9

I shouldn't really be here but I want a break from my art and I got this in my head. Just a short little thing to make up for having disappeared. Enjoy =)

This is after Sharma is destroyed, M and C are taking a walk in Innail. They are not together.

--

Maerad and Cadvan wandered leisurely along the grass path together. The sun was high in the sky, shining down on them happily. Cadvan turned to Maerad with a smile touching his eyes. Cadvan stopped, and Maerad followed suite. He took her hand and traced a line down the centre of it with his finger, saying, "This is a river." He tapped one side of her hand and explained, "There is a rabbit-"

"A hull-bunny?" Maerad interrupted with a smile.

Cadvan returned the smile. "If you want," he agreed. "This rabbit, or hull-bunny, wants to get to the other side of the river. How do you think it did it?"

"Swim?" Maerad guessed.

"No."

"Did it grow little bunny wings and fly?"

Cadvan chuckled. "No."

"Did it…catch a lift from a vegetarian hawk?"

This made Cadvan laugh aloud and he shook his head.

"Did it dig a tunnel underneath the river?"

"No," Cadvan replied, shaking his head slowly, his smiling eyes gazing right at her.

"Did it wait until a boat came along and then jump across?"

"No."

"Did it…hmm…eat lots and lots so it became an enormous hull-bunny and jump right over the river, creating an enormous earthquake which lasted for leagues?"

Cadvan raised an eyebrow at this one. "No."

"Alright, I give up. How did the rabbit get across the river?"

Cadvan smiled sheepishly at her, a lock of hair falling across his eye. "There was no rabbit. I just wanted to hold your hand."

Maerad blushed as Cadvan kissed her fingers, and they continued on their walk, hands clasped awkwardly.

The whole world was smiling.

--

Cadvan rocks -hugs-

Please review =)


	10. Chapter 10

Maerad sat next to Cadvan at the long table in the dining hall. The room here in the School of Innail was large, but they were the only people in there.

"Cadvan…" Maerad began uncertainly, her voice echoing off the stone walls. "I'm…scared."

At once, Cadvan gazed deep into her eyes. "What troubles you, Maerad?" he asked, setting down his late-night supper. They had only arrived here an hour or so before this time, and it was the first chance the two of them had got to eat.

Maerad was too ashamed to meet Cadvan's eyes. "I fear what I must face," she confessed shakily. "And I fear…I fear what will happen to me afterwards."

"But you do not know what will happen to you afterwards. I assume it is this which frightens you?"

Maerad nodded, her gaze still fixed on the wooden table. "I want…to love, but I fear it. I fear not finding love also. And Cadvan, it hurts," she added, turning shining eyes to him so that for the first time he realised how distraught she was and laid a hand over hers where she had been twisting them in her lap. "It hurts that I cannot do what is so natural to so many people just because of my past. I feel like I am helpless before Sharma, that there is no saviour from him, and even if there was I would be left alone and without love because I just don't know how to love…And it _hurts_," she finished, her tears spilling over into her cheeks.

Cadvan put his arms tight around her and held her in silence until she had stopped crying and she was no longer shaking. As he released her, Maerad looked away, ashamed of her fear and of her outburst, but Cadvan turned her face towards him with one hand. He left his fingers touching lightly on her cheeks as he said, "You know quite well, deep within you, that there is only a single magic, a single power, a single salvation...and that is called loving. Well, then, love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is your aversion that hurts, nothing else. As soon as you realise that nothing can change the past, that all you can do is shape the present in the hope that it might influence the future, you will find peace and you will no longer be afraid of love. I can say nothing of your fear of Sharma other than that sometimes a little fear is sensible. But not of love, Maerad. You need never be afraid of love."

"I suppose I am not so afraid _of_ it any more. I am afraid of not finding it," Maerad replied, his eyes capturing hers gently and causing the truth to spill out of her.

"Oh, Maerad, there are many, even now, who love you with all their heart and soul. There are those that would die for you." He leaned forwards slightly, as though to tell her a great secret, his face no more than a few inches from hers. "And there is one who cannot bear the thought of life without you."

Maerad stopped breathing. She stared unblinkingly into Cadvan's eyes, praying he meant what she thought he did. After a moment, Cadvan removed his hand from her cheek and stood up. She was able to breathe again. He looked saddened, and Maerad thought she had done something wrong as she watched him walking away.

"Cadvan…" she called after him uncertainly. He paused, already almost at the door, and turned halfway towards her without looking up. Maerad stood slowly and took careful, measured steps towards him. Her footsteps sounded loud in the large room, and yet at the same time they were dwarfed by its vastness. As Maerad stopped in front of Cadvan she reached for his hand. Cadvan watched his hand being taken, then looked up at Maerad to see she was already looking at him. There was silence for the space of a heartbeat. "Kiss me," Maerad whispered.

Cadvan leaned down and kissed her firmly, his lips lingering on hers and his eyes tightly closed. As he drew away, Maerad smiled. "I guess you were right," she said shyly. "As soon as I stopped concentrating on the past, I realised who I wanted my future with."

As Cadvan looked at her, Maerad could immediately tell that he was more content than ever she had seen him. "That means a lot to me," he told her quietly. "Thank you." He kissed her again, his lips touching hers only briefly this time.

Time stopped, went backwards, and re-wrote itself.

--

Inspired by the quote: You know quite well, deep within you, that there is only a single magic, a single power, a single salvation...and that is called loving. Well, then, love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is your aversion that hurts, nothing else. (by Herman Hesse) And the last line (time stopped etc) was stolen from Kathryn Shadow…I hope you don't mind, KS, I just couldn't think of another way to end it.  
Also, thanks to Kiaga89 who helped edit. =D


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